Invest in ME June Research Colloquium to include EMERG meeting

The 6th International Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium takes place in London in June - designated BRMEC6.

The charity has already invited researchers from seventeen countries - and most of those countries have confirmed representatives attending.

This colloquium will be our sixth since we originated the idea of bringing existing ME researchers together in the same meeting as researchers from other disciplines in order to increase knowledge and generate more ideas for biomedical research projects which can expedite the search for biomarkers and establish causality.

Together the BRMEC* colloquiums and IIMEC* conferences form a unique set of events which we believe is delivering results.

We supplement these with other events. In the past we have taken a delegation to parliament for a special APPG for ME meeting.

We also try to arrange pre-conference dinners which have keynote speeches on subjects of interest as well as provide opportunities for more discussions and networking for researchers, clinicians and patient groups.

This all enhances progress in ME research and awareness and understanding. There are also multiple sub groups discussing research

This year we will also be arranging and hosting evening dinners for the researchers - including a meeting of the newly formed European ME Reseach Group (EMERG). This will bring together European researchers who are collaborating on new ideas for research into ME.
Following the colloquium and conference events we will chair the AGM of the European ME Alliance (EMEA) - 13 countries involved in this and growing.

The colloquiums do not get as much publicity as the public conference - but they are crucial for developing research into ME and have expanded in numbers of participants and objectives over those years.

They have been responsible for multiple projects, initiatives and momentum - not all directly related to IiME's work - but very useful for other groups. The collaborations formed have generated new interest and we feel these have been responsible for moving ME into the mainstream of research.

The rituximab/B-cell research and the formation of European ME Research Group EMERG are items established from the Colloquiums.
But there are many other examples.

For a small charity these events have taken a great deal of time, effort and resources to organise and perform.
But we feel they are very much worth the effort.
The only regret we have is that we do not have the means to do more.

To all the researchers coming to BRMEC6 we say welcome and thank you for participating.